River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-08-04
Letter. From Home.

/ frank as TO be quite ill-bred.
Letters From Home
The beauty and worth of letters be.
tween those who have left home and the
ones who remain, are connected with
sentiments that no one can appreciate
who has not sent and received these
letters. They are a tie of affection. or,
rather IN evidence of some tie,peculiar
to people Of refinement and of emotion
al strength and persistence. The pra-
ctice IS not found among people OF
low instincts, for they are not capable
of getting Out of it the help and the
enjoyment that are so profitable to
people of keener sensibilities. The
bond between parent and child is
easily sevred and neglected by them,
and at an early age the child shifts
for himself before he has gathered the
idea of his dependence on parents that
children have in more advanced stages
Of living who require many years of
parental support and counsel and
encouragement in order that they may
be fitted to carry on work and perform
duties of a more difficult and noble
character.
Home letter writing ) an indication
a well a a builder of personal charac-
ter The boy leaves home to battle
his way in life. perhaps, or to pre-
pare himself in education for doing so,
and. if he be not of ignOble blood, he
writes weekly letter TO his mother. He
coniides in her his hopes, his prospects.
his reverSes and his successes; his let
ter l. a diary of things done and
thought Of doing, of fears and conf
dence. of sorrow and JOY, of ventures
made. of steps lost and won.
\ mother. only a mother can reply
to such letters. Her sympathy, advice,
and self sacrifice, and heartfelt con-
Germs are all truly feminine and mother
~. Her tender heart responds to her
boys trust and condolences. like an
Eolian harp to the wind. The son
cannot but he better and stronger for
the letters to his mother and from her:
he cannot but feel that he has acquitted
himself more capably and hOnOrably,
that he has been more loyal to duty and
rectitude. more faithful to work under
taken and to men with whom he has
been brought in association.
Daughters, nowadays. go away from
home 20 earn a living in the three hun
dred and more occupations that are
open to women. and we may be sure
that they keep up a correspondence
with those at hOme-with mother.
sister or brother. Girls, of course, are
to be depended upon to do the proper
thing in this respect. We know of a
girl who has lived away from home for
sever years and who has never failed
to write a weekly letter to her mother.
and. it may be added. the mother has
also written one in return every week.
But when the daughter is married
and has the care of household and chill
dren, and probably a good deal of work
To do.-what then? There NAV be
those who are constant, regular and
frequent in their letter writing to those
who lived with them in the old home: but
can they be expected to do as well as
they did before marriage?
Too often, however. they not only fol-
low the old Injunction and cleave to the
husband, which. of course, is as it should
be, but they sever themselves almost
entirely from the old home and its for
mer inmates. 1t is easy to see how
this happens. taking place, as it does.
gradually, and while cares absorb the
thought and attention. and while
new attachments are building up
and maintaining new home
The result is to be expected to
extent, but it seems too
bad that il should be a extreme rs it
often i. The young woman. though a
wife. may be more truly a daughter
and sister. and man may be more truly
a son and brother, than they often are
after leaving home. and letter writing
is one of the best ways of showing it.
The connection between those at home
and those who have departed is living
force in character, in duty done, in the
grcenneSs of affection, in mutual help
and in self help. They are the refuge
IF homesickness and the sOlace of the
distant parent; they strengthen the
child for trial, and sustain the par
ent in loneliness. Truly the families can
be recognized that maintain letter
writing with those who have departed
into the walks of life-they can be rec
ognized by their paternal, their filial
and their fraternal affections, by their
mutual responsiveness and assistance.
~ Good Housekeeping.